Def Leppard star says it's important to 'roll the dice'

Musian Phil Collen of Def Leppard has revealed he thinks it's important to ''roll the dice'' in the music business.

Def Leppard's Phil Collen thinks it's important to ''roll the dice'' in the music business.

The 60-year-old musician - who is best known for his association with the legendary group - has admitted to being inspired by the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

He told Billboard: ''Zeppelin and the Stones were both blues bands and they just took it somewhere else, and that's the part that interests me.

''I think if you stay locked into a specific format you end up being a karaoke band. That's not inspiring, and you're just copying something. So I think the great thing is to roll the dice and see where it takes you. That's the exciting part.''

Def Leppard recently released its catalogue to digital streaming services after facing a lengthy delay.

But Phil is proud that they held out for so long to achieve the best possible deal.

Phil explained: ''We didn't want to get ripped off.

''The industry expected us to just roll over and put it out basically for free, or a small amount. We weren't going to budge, but we agreed on something and it sounded great and we shook hands and there you go.''

He added that while the band are eager to release new material, their focus for the time being is on promoting their back catalogue.

Phil said: ''When people say, 'Any new Def Leppard stuff?,' yeah, we've got some new stuff, but it has to be on the back burner 'cause we're kind of promoting the whole catalogue now.

''It's totally exciting, the fact we can finally bring that to people in a different format.''